Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #305

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #305 

November 2nd, 2023 

• Number: 305 

• Name: Deep Dive on a Site of Interest:  The Gateway Complex – Part 4 

• Location: Western Gold Mountains northwest of the City-State of Carasta 

• Population (approx.): Varies (The Reception Areas) 

• Brief: As the Complex grew and expanded, so did the process for handling the unexpected arrivals in the chamber through the veil. Transits could rarely be predicted or foreseen, so the magicians were usually surprised and reacted with great force. This tended to lead to casualties for both the visitors and the staff of the Complex. The Arcanists developed a variety of triggered wards to enclose the chamber upon arrival to allow those on watch to observe and respond. The arriving beings needed to be assessed for dangerous intent, unique and potentially harmful physiologies and simply whether they could survive the potential differences in the physical natures of their worlds and Aenwyld. The evaluations were harsh until the Guild brought in support from the Diplomats and Hospitality Guilds to provide a better reception experience. Seers continued to try to predict transits but presently usually only the sensitive or unique, like Iysel and Vakas, are the first to arrive. Visitors reside in chambers off the Gateway while being evaluated and once accepted and approved, like a recent feathered visitor from a world like Aenwyld, moves to guest quarters in the upper levels. 

• Rustling Leaves (Rust), 25, female Kenku (a flightless birdlike humanoid) is a wandering monk in the Society for the Secret of Truth. She is short, has yellow eyes and long black hair. Her wings are black with dark blue tips. Rust wears dark green robes with various runes and shapes on them. Her favorite weapon is a kynac (a long single-edge guardless knife) but she also keeps many tiny daggers on her person. 

• Rust is a curious person and has always longed to travel. After she joined the order, she was presented with a wand that casts a detect portal spell. She arrived through the Gateway last week and, having been cleared by “Reception,” has decided to spend a short while investigating the area. Rust is always studying people and has become very good at detecting lies. She plans to earn some coin by offering her services to any local justice system. 

• Rust lost her parents shortly after she was born. Her extended family raised her until she was ten and sent her on her way. Rust has trouble making friends because most people on her world don’t trust Kenku. She is very lonely and will latch on to the closest person who talks to her. One day, she hopes to return to her flock, but she wants to make her fortune first. 

• Geography: Passageways (locations C see below) lead from the Gateway chamber to caves modified as temporary Reception (aka holding) areas for new arrivals. They are designed so that they can be blocked with heavy doors, like the main gate, and then sealed and filled with conjured elements as needed. This has included water for aquatic creatures and one recorded instance of a dragon or snake-like group of entities that could only breathe swamp gas (methane). Once evaluated and received by Reception, visitors may stay for a while in rooms available on upper levels 3 and 4 (see location 4 below) known as the Visitors’ Lodge. Stays vary in length for the Arcanists have few means to successfully return someone to the realm from whence they came, so they must eventually accept some location on Aenwyld as their “forever” home.